Local community

The term Local communities will be applied for small, belong together groups of people in a traditional way - cause a potentially semi-subsistence -oriented lifestyle - without the use of industrial technologies. It may be, for example, farmers, fishermen, hunters and gatherers, rural communities or groups of nomads.

Definition of Terminology

Proposed at the international level for the first time in 1995 by the American anthropologist and biologist Darrell Addison Posey - the term is used in part as an alternative for " indigenous communities". There are three major differences to consider:

  • Indigenous are the descendants of the original ( indigenous ) population. Even today, they often feel a spiritual attachment to their habitats to which they do not often land rights claims. " Indigenous " is always a political attribute that is associated with demands for self-determination and participation, which is expressed by the concerned person. Local communities, however, also include those non-indigenous sectors of the population that has " devious " it during the colonization in new residential areas and who have no political self- understanding - such as in Brazil, the descendants of black slaves ( Quilombolas ) or the rubber tappers.
  • The term local community aims only aware of a fraction of a people and not to whole nations. Indigenous ethnic groups today are less homogeneous than ever and very often is only a small part of their families in local villages the traditional life after.
  • While local communities must be potential self, by definition, the ( present ) life or economy is not a criterion for indigenous peoples.

In particular, by African States, the term "local" instead of " indigenous " is preferred, because the indigenous population constitutes the majority in almost all of Africa.

In the Convention on Biological Diversity of the United Nations (UNCED ), the term " Indigenous and local communities embodying traditional forms of economy " is used for a better understanding.

Traditional subsistence farming and biodiversity

Local communities rely on crops or raise cattle, often supplemented by hunting and fishing. They use little domesticated, traditional plant and animal species as food and medicine, fuel and materials. Neither modern machines nor fertilizers are used. A commercialization of the products usually takes place only to a very limited degree, because primarily for their own maintenance ( subsistence ) is gewirtschaftet. This means that biological diversity is maintained and created.

If the natural environment of these groups severely impaired and then lost not only biodiversity but also an essential part of the cultural cohesion. This is done primarily by the state legalized exploitation of resources by national or multinational corporations or by the abandonment of the locals from the subsistence level ( introduction of modern agricultural methods and overproduction to participate in the market economy ).

Lack of legal certainty

The members of local communities often have a rich traditional knowledge about the local flora and fauna. With the economic globalization, these people are becoming recipients of research projects of the industrial nations, for example, on the search for new drugs or food crops. Unfortunately, the author regularly become massively cheated or have no use at all of the patented "discoveries " of the western world.

Human rights organizations and the international community will therefore seek to establish legal frameworks in order to counteract this deficiency. Currently, there is in this respect no international legal security for local communities.

  • Full control of the traditional means of production ( eg seeds )
  • Entitled to a reasonable share in the profits arising from traditional knowledge
  • Long-term legal certainty on the cultivated or otherwise used for agriculture

The current development is to be feared that legal requirements are adopted too late, or can be enforced only insufficient on site.

At the national level there are only a few countries legal progress for local communities. This is especially Brazil to mention where the legally binding decree for " Traditional peoples and communities " has existed since 2007. The social scientist Dieter Gawora of the University is in exchange with scientists from other countries for one, this Brazilian name and their concrete definition for local communities to establish at the international level in order to accelerate the process of law making.

527705
de